APPENDIX 3 Specification Procedure for Cross hole Sonic Logging Test

(ASTM D6760-02)

1. Introduction: For ultrasonic testing, water-filled access tubes are cast in the pile and
ultrasonic transducers inserted in the tubes. The most common test methods are:

 Crosshole one dimensional – Both transducers (transmitter and receiver) at kept at

an identical level throughout the test to produce horizontal readings.

 Crosshole tomography –in an anomaly zone, transducers are moved at different

levels to produce oblique readings.

Ultrasonic testing is intended to give information about pile continuity and concrete quality.

It is able to define flaws in piles with regard to depth, location and size, but does not give any
information about pile capacity.

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 2. Testing agency: The ultrasonic test shall be carried out by a firm experienced in this kind of
work and approved by the Engineer. Both site work and interpretation of the results shall be
carried out by a Geotechnical engineer with proven experience.

3. Equipment:

3.1 APPARATUS

Cross Hole Ultrasonic Monitor (CHUM), by PILETEST, uses the Crosshole Sonic Logging
(CSL) method to perform high-resolution quality control on deep foundations. The CHUM
system consists of the following components (as shown in Figure 1):

The CHUM system consists of the following components:

 CHUM instrument
 A pair of depth meters pulleys
 Two depth cables: A simple ("I") type for normal CSL use and a double ("Y")
 cable for tomography
 Two ultrasonic probes (each is emitter and receiver)
 Computer (Not provided)
 AC power adapter
 12 V DC car battery adapter (Optional)

CHUM instrument contains the following inside the rugged housing :

 Battery: The CHUM uses a Lithium-Ion battery, 11.1V 4.4 Ah that offers high capacity and
improved performance enabling up to two days of typical use. The battery has almost no
"memory" problems, and does not need to be discharged periodically. The battery has almost
no loss of power while in storage, and requires no maintenance.
 A microcontroller, data conditioning, processing and acquisition circuits.
 CHUM connector panel. The respective connectors and controls on this panel are from top
to bottom:

1. Power (from either AC or car battery source)

2. USB – When plugging the USB connector to a computer, the system is turned on. The
USB cable can be pushed in or pulled out in order to best fit the computer's USB port
location.
3. Green LED
 ON to indicate all internal power supplies are OK
 Blinks 10 times at 2Hz when the unit is started (USB plugged into a computer)
–indicating the firmware is OK
 A faint blink every ~3sec when the system enters suspend mode (after 30
seconds of inactivity) – the suspend mode saves battery life and the system
resumes automatically when needed.
 A short blink for each transmitted pulse
4. Orange LED
 ON to indicate charging circuit is OK
 Blinks to indicate intermittent charging (empty battery)
 Lights bright to indicate continuous charging
 Dims down when battery is fully charged

5. Emitter socket
6. Receiver socket
7. Depth meter socket

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  Hardware features

1. Automatic gain control: CHUM has 8 gain levels, from X1 (5v), to X256 (~20mv). The
gain is adjusted automatically to acquire the maximal number of bits without saturating
the A/D acquisition card
2. Excellent signal to noise ratio:
3. Low power consumption
4. Automatic Suspend mode

Depth meters: Both contain a bi-directional rotary encoder. The encoder generates an exact number
of pulses per revolution and should be self-calibrated.

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CHUM
Instrument

Depth Depth Cables

meter with two
ultrasonic
transceivers

Figure 1: Components of CHUM System

Two Transducers and Cables: The dual-purpose transducers contain piezo-electric

ceramic elements that generate signals of 50 kHz (nominal frequency). Each transducer can
function as either emitter or receiver, depending on the socket it is plugged into each
transducer is attached via a pressure-proof connector to 50 meter polyurethane coated
cables wound on a reel. The cables may also be ordered in lengths of 100 or 150 meter.
Other lengths are available upon request.

Main features:
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  Easy to use; The user-friendly software makes it possible to master the CHUM
in less than a day. No additional expensive training required
 Powerful tomography features
 Unlike other system based on an embedded computer (which may soon become
obsolete) CHUM connects to the USB port of your regular notebook computer or
Tablet PC.

The basic CHUM package includes everything required to perform CSL and 2D tomography:

The CHUM instrument, two ultrasonic transducers, two 50m cable reels, two depth meter
pulleys , cables and AC power adapter

 Optional: 100m/150m cable reels, 3D tomography

Advantages over laboratory test of a concrete cylinder sample:

 Intuitive
 Large sample size: on samples close in size to the wavelength, the wave
speed is
 different than the one in a real pile
 Averaging many samples, eliminating intermittent noises
 Affordable: No special equipment or test method is needed
 Independent of constant delays
 Good indication of the test reliability

4. The test shall be performed using a computerized system of reputable origin.

5. Piles to be tested: All piles shall be tested at a minimum age of seven days after casting.

6. Access tubes: The tubes shall preferably be mild steel. As a rough guide (ASTM D6760-02),
the number of tubes shall be one for every250 mm or 300 mm pile diameter. The tubes shall
be rigidly attached to the inside of the reinforcement cage and evenly-spaced. All tubes
shall be new, straight and clean both inside and outside, with a minimum internal diameter of
50 mm. f extension of the access tubes is necessary due to long tube lengths, access tube
couplings shall be used which prevent slurry or grout ingress during construction. Butt
welding for steel tube couplings shall not be permitted. Both ends of the tube shall be
tightly plugged. The Contractor shall take all due care to avoid any damage to the tubes
during manufacturing, installation, concreting and the trimming of the head.

7. Preformed Access Tube Installation: The access tubes shall be installed such that their
bottom is as close as possible to the bottom of the concrete pile or structure so that the
bottom condition can be tested. The access tubes shall have a minimum concrete cover of 1
tube diameter. Access tubes shall be secured to the inside of the main axial reinforcement
of the steel cage at frequent and regular intervals along their length to maintain the tube
alignment during cage lifting, lowering and subsequent concreting of the pile or structure.
During tube installation, care should be taken to ensure that all access tubes are as
parallel to each other as possible. After installation of the reinforcement cage into the pile
or structure, the top end caps shall be temporarily removed and the tubes shall be
inspected to verify they are clear of obstructions. Access tubes should be filled with water
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 prior to, or within one hour of, concrete placement to assure good bonding of the concrete to
the tube after the concrete cools.

8. Preparations for testing: Before commencing the test, the Contractor shall ensure that
there is adequate access to the pile. The Contractor shall use suitable means to cut the top of
the access tubes cleanly at a level of 200 to 300 mm above the concrete, unless ordered
otherwise.

9. Testing Method: In regular 1-D testing, each pair of access tube is separately tested. An
ultrasonic transmitter is lowered to the bottom of one tube and a receiver – to the bottom on
another. Both transducers are then pulled up together, and the First Arrival Time (FAT)
and energy versus depth plotted by a computerized device. As long as FAT and energy are
approximately constant, the concrete is uniform and the pile is considered acceptable. A
local anomaly, in the form of increased FAT and/or decreased energy, may mean that the
concrete between the tubes is flawed at this level. Tomographic testing can then be performed
to determine location, shape and size of the flaw. Installing a larger number of piles along
the perimeter of the piles will provide almost complete coverage of the cross-section.

10. Reporting: A final report for each testing stage shall be presented not later than three
working days after completion of that stage. The report shall consist of a printout of the
original output, as well a summary table including, for every pile tested, the depth and The
Engineers' interpretation regarding its integrity.

Quality Control
Following work should be maintained during testing work
1. Record of Pile Cut-off Level.
2. Record of testing time for each pile
3. Maintain of necessary Field data Sheet.

Safety
Following safety precaution should be confirmed during execution of the works:

- Safety personnel will present at work location.

- All workers must be in good physical condition i.e. appear healthy, have adequate hearing and sight.
- All workers must strictly wear safety shoes at site in order to avoid feet Injury. Wearing of sneaker
and sport shoes are strictly prohibited.
- All workers must strictly wear safety helmet and jacket. Worker or any person is not allowed with
loose cloth at work site.
- An electrician must wear gloves while he is working.
- Every worker should be followed health safety & security rules & regulations.
- Every worker/personnel should be carried their identity card in site.
- Technician will inform immediately to their Engineer/Supervisor, in case of any doubt.

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- Smoking is not allowed in the working place as well as the project area.
- Risk assessment shall be carried out for necessary safety precautionary measures.
- Defective tools should be avoided & all kind of hand tools or power hand tools should be checked
properly.
- All hand tools & power hand tools should be checked periodically once in a month.
- Contractors safety officer should be carried Toolbox meeting with all employees in a group wise.
- Daily observation should be carried out by company safety officer for analyzing risks & will be taken
necessary action for risk assessment.
- Use of drugs & alcoholic drinks strictly prohibited in working place.
- No fighting one with another in the work site. That’s persons should be sacked from the company.
- Used electrical safety devices such as LSDB, SDB, and ELCB etc. with proper circuit breaker.
- Barricade the testing area with warning tape & put related caution signs on work place.